


Watcher

by FanficAllergy



Series: The Parts We Play [2]
Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Angst, Prequel, Side Story, Teen Pregnancy, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-08
Updated: 2014-11-08
Packaged: 2018-02-24 15:10:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2585972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanficAllergy/pseuds/FanficAllergy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Side Story to Spectator -  Peeta learns that everything he's dreamed of is gone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Watcher

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: The Hunger Games Trilogy is property of Suzanne Collins. This is a parody fanwork by fans for fans. No money was made off of the creation of this fanwork.
> 
> AN: This is a prequel to my main story, Spectator. You don't need to read it first. But it might help.

**oOo**

**Title:** Watcher  
**Theme:** 22: Empty  
**Words:** 652  
**Summary:**  Peeta learns that everything he's dreamed of is gone.

 

**oOo**

 

The whispers start in April.

 

Two girls standing in one corner of the lunchroom. Then three. Then more. Whispering. Glaring. At Katniss.

 

At first, I think nothing of it. The girls in my year have never really liked Katniss all that much. Other than Delly and Madge, but Delly likes everyone and Madge is almost as ostracized as Katniss is.   I don't understand their hatred initially.   Katniss hasn't done anything to court their antagonism.   Not really. She ignores everyone equally. Except for her sister and Gale Hawthorne.  

 

Gale Hawthorne. Rugged. Handsome. And utterly in love with Katniss.

 

That's when it hits me. They hate her because Gale likes her.  

 

It's obvious to anyone with eyes that Gale is in love with Katniss.   Tall, handsome, strong Gale, who according to Delly is dreamy and has a voice to match his good looks, is enamored of the same girl I am.   I have to give it to the older boy, he's got good taste.   But ever since Gale realized he likes Katniss, he's not been paying attention to the other girls.   It started earlier this year but it's been worse ever since about mid-January.  

 

I'm not sure what it is, but ever since then Gale's been pining after Katniss even worse than I do. For her part, Katniss has been ignoring him. Which is surprising considering how close they were before.   It makes me think I might have a chance with her.  

 

Maybe I should talk to her.

 

No, stick to the plan. Wait until the final reaping and approach her at the after party. She won't look at anyone until then. At least I hope so. Still, what's up with her and Gale?

 

I'm not the only one who's noticed.   The rest of our school has as well.   Half of the rumor mill thinks Gale put a move on her and she shot him down, the other half thinks Gale shot Katniss down. That half is made up of the Gale Fangirl Contingent.   Because that rumor makes no sense; if Gale shot Katniss down why would he be pining after her in the first place? I don't get people who imagine or ignore things if it gets in the way of their obsession.

 

I've been obsessed with Katniss for years and I know she's not perfect. That's part of the reason why I love her so much. Her flaws and foibles are what make Katniss, Katniss.  

 

Personally, I think the whole thing has something to do with Prim.   No one else seems to have caught on that Prim doesn't like Gale much anymore. But I have.   I wonder what Gale could have done that would have angered the sweet little girl who's almost Delly-like in her friendliness.    

 

Then Katniss stands up, catching her shirt and pulling it taut against the edge of the table. And I see it. I see what's got the girls whispering, what's caused Gale's pining, and even Prim's hatred.   The small unmistakable bulge of a new pregnancy.

 

Katniss is so small, so thin, that there's nothing else it could be.

 

I feel the world fall away from me as I realize that I'm too late. I waited too long and now Katniss is with someone else. Even if she and Gale aren't together now, they're permanently linked by the new life growing in Katniss's womb.

 

A wash of pure longing overwhelms me. What I wouldn't give for that child to be mine.

 

But it's impossible.

 

I get up from the table, the rest of my lunch forgotten. It doesn't matter. I'm not hungry anyway.

 

I've been too passive for too long. Watching instead of acting. Waiting instead of doing. I was too cautious. Too afraid and my fear cost me the one thing I wanted most.

 

I've got to move on. To find a new center of my universe. But before I can do that, I need to mourn.

 

Mourn for the death of my dream.

 

**oOo**

**Author's Note:**

> AN:  
> Written: 11/7/14  
> Revised: 11/8/14  
> Beta Read by: RoseFyre
> 
> Because someone asked for Peeta's reaction to finding out that Katniss was pregnant in Spectator. It kind of sets the scene for who Peeta is in Spectator and why he feels a little OOC. It was a deliberate choice on my part. Having everything you've ever dreamed about destroyed in an instant is going to change someone. In the books, that doesn't happen to him until the VERY end of the first book. If you take a look at the cynical man he is before the victory tour in Catching Fire, that's closer to who my Peeta is at the start of Spectator.


End file.
